Cylinder blast kills family of 3, cops suspect suicide

The incident occurred around 2.30 am when the ill-fated victims were asleep, said sources. Two gas cylinders were reportedly kept with their valves open in the bedroom of the house, they added.

The deceased were identified as M Ramamurthy (37), who used to deal in snack items, his wife Kanchana (30) and their daughter Akshaya. While Kanchana and Akshaya succumbed on the spot, Ramamurthy tried escaping with flames on his body.

The neighbours dialled the ‘108’ emergency ambulance service, which took Ramamurthy to hospital. However, he died on the way.

The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service personnel from Thideer Nagar doused the fire. The bodies of the deceased were sent to the Madurai government hospital for post mortem.

Police suspect the incident to be a suicide case, however, no suicide note was found inside the house. Thirunagar Inspector of Police Kannan said it doesn’t seem to be an incident of gas leak. Preliminary investigations revealed that Ramamurthy was in debt and had not paid the house rent for the last two months. Since his business was not enterprising, he had even become a realtor. Having no source of income, Ramachandran could have committed suicide along with his wife and daughter by staging the gas leak, the cops suspect.

Further investigations are on to check whether the incident was a result of negligence of the consumer or a deliberate incident of suicide. Based on a complaint lodged by Thiruparankundram Village Administrative Officer Raja, a case has been filed under CrPC section 176, sources said.